Episode 992 (27th July 1970)
Plot The party continues into the evening with a free bar paid for by Alan as Betty and Emily desperately trying to keep up with the orders and Ena plays the piano. Irma has returned for the party. Stan gets hopelessly drunk on the free ale. Elsie admits to Maggie and Val that being married terrifies her. Betty tells Alan to settle his bill with Annie when he returns from honeymoon. Ken makes a speech wishing the newly-weds all the best. Alan makes his own speech in return and they all sing For He's a Jolly Good Fellow. Irma, Bet and Ray go back to the flat where Irma grows depressed again at what she has lost. A paralytic Stan joins them and cadges gin off them. A drunk Hilda bad-mouths Alan for his financial situation to Len. The girls try to get Stan to leave but he's happy drinking the gin. Handel enjoys chatting with Minnie in the snug. Ena feels left out. Len wishes Elsie luck, pointing out that there will no neighbours to knock on the wall for in Cheshire. A morose Irma tells Bet that Darren wasn't a well-behaved baby and she often wished to be thousands of miles away from him and David. Before they go to bed, Elsie tells Alan how nice it is to have to have someone to lock up for her. The next morning, Ray and Len row over the money Alan owes them as Ray thinks Len's friend is taking advantage of him. Len goes to Barrow-in-Furness for three weeks on a sudden job so he leaves the job of collecting the money to Ray. Emily is pleased with a wig that Val fits for her. Hilda spreads the news that a baby has been stolen from outside Hopwood Street post office. Minnie reluctantly refuses an offer to go to a brass band concert with Handel. The Howards go off on their fortnight's honeymoon in Paris, waved off by the residents. Ray discovers from Charlie Clarke, one of Willie Piggott's employees, that Alan also owes Willie £200. Bet takes Emily to show her the flat and they find Irma there with the baby. Cast Regular cast *Ena Sharples - Violet Carson *Emily Nugent - Eileen Derbyshire *Betty Turpin - Betty Driver *Stan Ogden - Bernard Youens *Len Fairclough - Peter Adamson *Ray Langton - Neville Buswell *Alan Howard - Alan Browning *Irma Barlow - Sandra Gough *Bet Lynch - Julie Goodyear *Hilda Ogden - Jean Alexander *Minnie Caldwell - Margot Bryant *Maggie Clegg - Irene Sutcliffe *Elsie Howard - Patricia Phoenix (Credited as "Elsie Tanner") *Valerie Barlow - Anne Reid *Kenneth Barlow - William Roache Guest Cast *Handel Gartside - Harry Markham *Charlie Clarke - Ray Dunbobbin Places *Coronation Street *Rovers Return Inn - Public/Snug *11 Coronation Street - Back room/kitchen and hallway *15a Coronation Street - Living room and kitchen *Alan Howard's Salon Notes *The scene on the Grape Street set was shot on film. *''TV Times'' synopsis: Ray makes a surprising discovery - and so, too, does Miss Nugent *Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast - 6,650,000 homes (1st place). Notable dialogue Len Fairclough: "Hilda, before you start chucking stones at those who owe money, if I were you I’d mend a few windows in me own greenhouse." Episode 0992